invention

Robert Pelloni

Robert Pelloni — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:13:55 +0200

Nom

Pelloni

Prénom

Robert

Blog ou Site web

Centres d'intérêts

Date de naissance

Description

I created a video game on my own. It took him five years. I live in Detroit city.

langue

English

Profession

"The world's largest self-made video game"

Julien — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:50:28 +0200

From the age of 10, Robert Pelloni dreamed of an “ideal” video game. Whilst having coffee with friends one day, he began scribbling ideas on napkins. Five years later he’d created what he suggests is possibly the world’s largest self-made video game. In those five years Bob hardly left home, working night and day on his project, with no internet connection and virtually no social life, his bedroom floor strewn with papers.

Bob is basically a self-taught game designer. In High School he took an introductory class on C++ programming, though he had no previous training of graphics or game design. He first got a dot to move on a screen, then designed a character and got it to move. Soon Bob had his basic story ready. His 65-song soundtrack was recorded using sound waves, while sound effects were produced with objects and recorded with a microphone. Hence, the sound of footsteps was created using a real shoe. He reckons the whole thing cost him less than $10,000, whereas the average game today costs about $500,000 to make.

Floating cities in the pipeline for climate refugees

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:09:00 +0200

Climatologists around the world agree that sea levels will continue to rise throughout the 21^st century. Countries with low-lying coastal areas like Vietnam and Bangladesh could see more floods and the loss of land, and some Pacific Islands could one day end up completely submerged. But not to worry - a Belgian architect has come up with a solution. He's designed "amphibian towns" to house the future refugees.

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) predicts a sea level increase of between 20 and 90 centimetres by 2050. On the scale of the planet, each metre gained will see the forced exodus of around 50 million people. To offer a solution to those left homeless, Franco-Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut has come up with the "Lilypad" project. The young architect, known for his futuristic designs, describes his latest project as durable, ecological, and most importantly, unsinkable.

These marine cities, inspired by water lilies, would run entirely on renewable energies and therefore create no pollution. The environment would also be biometric - which means that the town's planning would make technological systems integral with ecosystems. It's emblematic of a new generation of architecture that emphasises the importance of ecology when it comes to aesthetic innovation.

Lee Chapman

Lee Chapman — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:40:19 +0100

Nom

Chapman

Prénom

Lee

Blog ou Site web

Tokyo Times

Centres d'intérêts

Date de naissance

Description

I'm a 37-year-old from Britain who has been in Japan for almost a decade, after initially coming for 'a year or two'. After such a long time, Tokyo is now home, but it’s still one looked at from a polite, and occasionally perplexed, distance.

langue

English, Japanese

Profession

English teacher